132,500 Barrels of oil produced daily in first quarter

May 9, 2017, 9:45 a.m.

GROSS sales volumes of crude oil in the first quarter of 2017 averaged approximately 132,500 barrels of oil per day (bopd).

This comprises 82,500 bopd from the Jubilee fields and 50,000 bopd from Tweneboa-Ntomme-Enyenra (TEN) offshore oil fields. This is contained in the financial and operating results of Kosmos Energy for the first quarter of 2017. The report said the Jubilee Floating Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) Kwame Nkrumah turret remediation work made good progress during the quarter.

It explained that FPSO Kwame Nkrumah was temporarily spread moored at its current heading in late February, which allowed the tugboats previously required to hold the vessel on a fixed heading to be removed, simplifying operations and reducing costs. The next phase of the remediation work involves modifications to the turret for long-term spread-moored operations and planning for this work is ongoing amongst the partnership and the Government of Ghana.

Kosmos anticipates that the financial impact of lower Jubilee production as well as the additional expenditures associated with the repair to the FPSO and the additional costs of the interim operating procedures will continue to be mitigated through a combination of the Hull and Machinery (H&M) insurance, procured on behalf of the partnership, and the Loss of Production Income (LOPI) insurance procured by Kosmos.

As of the first quarter of 2017, Kosmos has net approved claims of $154 million from its LOPI and H&M insurers with $142 million of cash received at March 31, 2017.

The report said production from TEN in the first quarter averaged approximately 50,000 bopd and is on track to achieve the operator’s 2017 guidance of 50,000 bopd.

“During periods throughout the quarter production levels exceeded 50,000 bopd and the partnership is continuing to optimize topside equipment to increase field production levels”.

“Kosmos has reduced its net capex budget for 2017 to $150 million, from the previously announced $175 million, after refining cost estimates for the 2017 work program.

“Approximately $75 million of the budget is allocated to Ghana, excluding Jubilee Turret remediation costs which are expected to be mitigated by insurance proceeds, and approximately $75 million is allocated to exploration, including seismic and new ventures costs. “The 2017 net capex budget of $150 million represents a more than 75 percent decrease from our 2016 net capex budget,” the report revealed.

Gloablly, Kosmos Energy generated a net loss of $28.8 million, or $0.07 per diluted share as compared to net loss of $59.0 million or $0.15 per diluted share in the same period last year for the first quarter of 2017.

When adjusted for certain items that impact the comparability of results, the company generated an adjusted net loss (1) of $42.7 million or $0.11 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2017. “Kosmos is off to a strong start executing on our plan in 2017,” said Andrew G. Inglis, chairman and chief executive officer.

“The strong cash flow generation of the business in combination with the closing of our Mauritania and Senegal transactions with BP, has allowed Kosmos to improve its financial strength. In addition, our continued exploration success with the Yakaar-1 well in Senegal, supports our belief that the basin is one of the largest petroleum systems to be opened along the Atlantic Margin.” First quarter 2017 oil revenues were $103 million versus $62 million in the same quarter of 2016, on sales of 2million barrels of oil in 2017 as compared to 1.9 million barrels in 2016.

First quarter 2017 oil revenues exclude $11 million of derivative settlements. Realized oil revenues, including the impact of the Company’s hedging program, were $58.12 per barrel of oil sold in the first quarter of 2017 compared to $62.64 per barrel of oil sold in the year-ago quarter.

Kosmos currently has approximately 5 million barrels of oil hedged in 2017 and approximately 6 million in 2018 with an average floor price of approximately $59 per barrel and $53 per barrel, respectively. At the end of the quarter, the Company was in a net underlift position of approximately 0.8 million barrels of oil.